1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and particularly to the image forming apparatus having such a function that reuse and disuse of toner recovered by a cleaning device are selectively performed.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP-A-9-44049, for example, discloses an image forming apparatus, which comprises a developing unit which makes an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of a photoreceptor visible as a toner image; a toner hopper for storing toner to be supplied to said developing unit; a cleaning device which removes and recovers the toner remained on the surface of the photoreceptor after the toner image has been transferred onto recording material; a toner transporting passage connected between the cleaning device and the toner hopper, through which the toner recovered by the cleaning device is returned to the toner hopper; a toner exhausting port disposed at a part of the toner transporting passage, from which the toner being returned from the cleaning device side is exhausted outside the toner transporting passage; and an opening and closing member which selectively opens or closes the toner exhausting port.
In the toner transporting passage of this type of the image forming apparatus, there has been a problem that when the opening and closing member is opened to open the toner exhausting port, the toner is not satisfactorily exhausted from the toner exhausting port, so that the toner gets over the toner exhausting port and the waste toner is returned from the toner exhausting port to the toner hopper. As a result, there has been also a problem that the waste toner is reused thereby to deteriorate printing quality.